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1968 Mustang body on Howe road race chassis


Tinman

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Thanks everyone! Here's a quick video update.

 

 

Still suffering growing pains in this whole video making and editing. Welding is so much easier.

 

Not much else to see in this video. Hope to have more and better video in the future.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Decklid is done.

 

blpDqVg.jpg?1

 

And it took quite a bit to get it to fit. First I had to correct the unevenness in the rear quarter panels. I busted out my trusty cutoff wheel and made a slice in the driver side. Widened the slice to a full 1/4" where it turns 90 degrees, pulled it together and welded it up. Sorry, only picture taken of this was the tack weld stage.

 

5ot8NLZ.jpg?1

 

Then I ground down the leading and side edges on the decklid to remove where it folds over the under bracing. Tossed the heavy under bracing and made a lip that the decklid skin would weld to after it was trimmed to size.

 

GtZ8sEB.jpg?1

 

The lip is made from 16ga. cold rolled steel strips that were clamped to the truck opening with 1/8" shims, scribed to the top of the opening, and cut to match. In the forward corners it was only 1/4" tall and very flimsy so gussets were added.

 

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The decklid was then laid on top and marked for it's trimming. 5/16" off of the leading edge, 1/4" off of the driver side at the rear, nothing at the driver side front, and 1/8" off of the passenger side. This left a nice corner to corner joint to allowed it to be welded to the lip cold with tacks only yet still get full penetration.

 

cQ1z5cp.jpg?1

 

After welding complete and welds ground down.

 

UrCJlqX.jpg?1

 

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And finally installed four of these little guys.

 

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Quik Latch mini fasteners in the 1" O.D. size.

 

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They are finicky to get to release properly but when dialed in they work great. I'm in the process of fitting springs under each one to help the decklid release from them easier. As it is now, as soon as I release the forth one, one of the others snaps back on.

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Much thanks everyone.

 

 

What are your thoughts on those quick latches? I was considering getting some to hold my side skirts and bumpers on for the JZX.

 

I like them but I do wish I had gone with the tried and true Dzus fasteners. The one thing that impressed me the most is the holding power they have, very tough little guys. I think they might be better suited for more flexible body panels as well. On steel, the alignment is finicky.

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  • 1 month later...

Despite the cold weather sucking nearly all motivation from my soul, a few minor things have happened.

 

 

The fender extensions needed extending to close the gap from them to the decklid. I formed some extension extenders from 1/8" 3003 aluminum and welded them up.

 

Gkgn9MO.jpg?1

 

Here is the tricky part. The fender extensions are cast from pot metal, not a material that can be welded. But it can somewhat be adhered to if it consists of a decent percentage of aluminum. I got lucky with these. Just a little washing of the tacks and bead towards the pot metal while concentrating the heat on the 3003 aluminum extension extenders.

 

8bJSKqM.jpg?1

 

Finished result is not at all pretty but sound enough to hold together.

 

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I thought about leaving the keyhole for the trunk lock as a nice veiw point for a rear facing camera when on track but decided to go ahead and fill it. In this pic, you can also see where I widened the rear bumper.

 

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And the full view. I'm not sure if I'm going to paint it body color or try a chrome wrap on it. There will be some more welding on it to extend it upward closer to the fender extensions at a later date.

 

DhcGihq.jpg?1

 

Next up, the truck stop tail lights. Since the tail lights were widened, I needed to cut the lenses into three pieces and make new housings. The new housings are two piece and fabbed from .063" and .080" aluminum. One to hold the lenses and one to house the universal led tail lights, the same kind found on tractor trailers and such.

 

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Just a couple more minor items to address on the rear and then it's time to spin her around and start widening the front fenders.

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I mean....TRUCK TAILLIGHTS.

 

And those fender extensions, while still maintaining a better-than-new trunk gap? Awesome.

 

It cracks me up when people keep locks on the exteriors of older cars these days...seriously, if someone's going to want in on that trunk, they're going to find a way. Might as well shave the lock hole and make it remote release.

 

Looking beyond awesome!!!

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  • 1 month later...

Thanks again for all the kind words everyone.

 

Started attacking the front fenders for widening. First step was to find the low point in the fenders and break out the cutting wheel.

 

KqhKvXI.jpg?1

 

Then slide it out on the three temporary supports clamped to the chassis, mock up the door, and inspect the body lines.

 

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After lining everything up I decided on 1 3/4" wider at the rear of the fender and 2 1/2" at the front. I supported a piece of 18ga. cold rolled steel underneath, traced out the required filler piece, cut the filler piece out and welded it in. I only went so far in the front as of that time, I didn't know exactly what I was going to do between the headlight surrounds and the wider fender.

 

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Then i had to take it off the jack stands so I could look it over from a slight distance to make sure everything was jiving so far.

 

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Extended the lower valance to meet the wider fenders at the bottom.

 

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Filled in the side marker lights to at least the point of the yet to be fabbed fender flares and decided to fill in the cut outs in the valance for the outside bumper brackets as the bumper will be mounted differently.

 

cVglMAO.jpg?1

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This project could easily be on any of the shows I watch on motortrend. It's going to be so smooth, that no one will have a clue how much work went into this thing.

You my friend are an artist.

 

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

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